ST. PAUL, Minn. - A brawl in the middle of a St. Paul intersection ended 21 teenagers being arrested and five St. Paul police officers injured from being hit by bear pepper spray, according to officials.

According to a police report, the incident happened around 7:12 p.m. on Wednesday at the intersection of Rose Avenue and Greenbrier.

Officers responded to the area where a group of more than 50 teens were in the roadway, surrounding a fight between two girls in the middle of the intersection.

Officers were in a Metro Mobility Bus, which is part of a special detail used specifically to deal with large fights, according to St. Paul Police spokesperson Steve Linders.

When officers arrived, the crowd started yelling, "'12! 12!' Which is slang for police," Linders said, before fleeing the scene.

As officers got closer, at least five were hit with a chemical irritant, which was later determined to be bear pepper spray.

Linders said the spray made it difficult for officers to breathe and see and "put them in an extremely dangerous situation."

Medics were called to help the injured officers at the scene.

The other officers were able to detain several juveniles at the scene. Twenty-one in total were arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center on possible charges of third-degree riot and fleeing police.